The air smelled of wet leaves and iron as Yoshiya and Omina left Reflynne's gates. At the checkpoint they paid fifty copper for a mining set—two sturdy pickaxes, a leather pouch for ore, a dented lantern with a spare wick, and a small bundle of rations. It wasn't much, but the gear had the rough, utilitarian look of countless adventurers before them.
The path toward the mine wound through a dense stretch of oak and pine. Birds called above, but the underbrush felt strangely hushed. Yoshiya slowed his pace, eyes scanning the mossy trunks. "There," he muttered. Crude claw marks gouged the bark—kobold runes. A little farther on, a broken branch was tied with twine and feathers, a goblin warning sign.
No ambush came. The forest only whispered. Omina's hand lingered near her sword hilts, but she forced herself to relax. "They're marking territory," she said. "Testing the edges."
When the trees finally opened into a rocky ravine, the entrance of the old mine yawned before them like a cracked jaw. Inside, the dim light of lanterns glimmered off damp stone. A few stone beetles clacked across the floor, their carapaces shimmering like chips of obsidian. Most miners had retreated deeper, leaving the first chamber eerily quiet.
"I'm trying something," Omina said, unstrapping both of her swords and handing them to Yoshiya. She hefted two pickaxes instead, one in each hand. "If I can get the rhythm right, maybe dual-blade style will feel less… clumsy."
Yoshiya gave her a dry look but accepted the swords, leaning them against a support beam. "Don't crack your head open. I'm not dragging you back to town."
Omina stepped forward and lunged at a beetle. The pickaxes whirled—awkward at first, but then smoother as she found a pattern. Sparks burst when metal struck shell. She pivoted, swung again, and the beetle split apart with a hiss of blue ichor.
While she practiced her forms, Yoshiya began chipping at a seam of ore, the steady tink-tink-tink of his pickaxe echoing. Out of the corner of his eye he watched her footwork—rough, yes, but something about her speed made the style look promising.
Deeper in the mine they saw only scattered adventurers. Most kept their heads down, too focused to talk. Then a familiar voice called, "Yoshiya? Omina?"
Yumi stepped from a side tunnel, her robes smudged with dust. She held a clipboard and a dagger. "I'm on an investigator's assignment. Rumor says goblins are sneaking captives through here."
Omina's jaw tightened. "Show us."
The three of them moved inward, lantern light flickering over walls lined with glimmering veins. Bits of broken chain and scuffed bootprints marked the floor. The smell changed too—less earth, more damp cloth and sweat.
They found a narrow hole at the base of a wall, half hidden by fallen rocks. A faint whimper came from inside. Yoshiya and Yumi swung their pickaxes together, widening the gap. Dust drifted down. The hole opened into a cramped cavern lit by guttering torches.
Three women lay there. One wept quietly, one stared blankly at nothing, and the third lay unconscious. All were bound with rough rope; their dresses torn, the air thick with a sour stench.
Omina's knuckles whitened around her pickaxe. "Animals," she hissed.
"Careful," Yoshiya warned. He widened the opening enough to crawl through, holding the lantern high. "Stay alert. There's movement deeper in."
He was halfway across the cavern when a guttural snarl echoed. A goblin lunged from a crack in the wall, eyes glinting green. It screeched, summoning others.
"Yoshiya!" Yumi shouted. She ducked into the hole, blade ready but hands shaking. Omina followed last, carrying the second lantern.
From the dark came four more goblins, their crude knives flashing. The smell of rot and iron hit all at once.
"Protect!" Yoshiya roared. Mana surged over his shield like a thin veil of light, spreading to form a barrier around Omina. Sparks danced where the first goblin struck, its blade glancing off harmlessly.
Omina darted past him, pickaxes spinning. "Mine or fight—choose, Yoshiya!"
He braced as another goblin slammed into his guard. With a twist he bashed its face with his shield rim, then drove his sword—returned to him by Yumi—through its gut. Years of practice in only weeks of real combat made the motion fluid.
Two goblins circled Omina. She ducked under one's slash, crossing both pickaxes in an "X" and wrenching the blade aside before hooking the second goblin's ankle. The motion was still rough, but her speed forced them back step by step. She slammed a pickaxe into a shoulder, yanked it free, spun, and cracked the other across the jaw.
Yumi stared, frozen. She had seen Omina train, but never like this—no hesitation, only hard eyes and steel arcs of motion.
"Move, Yumi!" Omina snapped, kicking a fallen goblin aside.
The last goblin lunged at Yoshiya, shrieking. He raised his shield high, then slammed forward with a full-body bash. The creature hit the wall with a wet crunch and slumped.
Silence dropped into the cavern except for the captives' sobs.
Yoshiya lowered his shield and knelt by the unconscious woman. "Heal," he murmured. Warm light spread over his palms, knitting shallow cuts and easing bruises. The woman stirred faintly, breath evening out.
Yumi still hadn't moved. Omina stepped over, grabbed her shoulders, and slapped her lightly. "Wake up. We're not done yet."
Yumi blinked, trembling, but nodded.
Yoshiya's lantern beam caught another narrow passage behind the captives. It sloped upward, rough but walkable—a secondary exit, maybe an escape route for the goblins. He rose, eyes narrowing. "There's another way out. We'll use it once they're stable."
The three of them began untying ropes, the glow of Yoshiya's healing magic casting long, wavering shadows on the damp stone. In the stillness after the fight, Omina's hands trembled only once before she steadied them on her new grip.
The mine had been just another contract, but now it felt like the edge of something larger.